AIS SPECIES PRESENT IN MONTANA MONITORING & CITIZEN SCIENCE One of the statutory duties of the commission is to develop an annual AIS Monitoring Plan for the Upper Columbia Basin. This was completed by the UC³ Monitoring Committee prior to the 2021 season and describes the planned monitoring for 2021 as well as recommendations moving forward. The recommendations included: Comment on FWP Field Sampling and Laboratory Standard Operating Procedures (as needed) Annual Early Detection and Monitoring Coordination Meeting and Training (held March 2021) Database Expansion & Use of Data Application (increase consistency and use across state/basin) eDNA Sampling Protocols Refinement (ongoing) Continue to support the establishment and growth of the Upper Columbia Lakes Network (ongoing – see more information below) Track Veliger Survivability in Ballast Water Studies (two studies completed, concluding that recreational boats do pose a veliger transportation risk with ballast boats. Currently awaiting results from an additional Bureau of Reclamation study. See more information in the 2021 AIS Monitoring Plan on our website) Develop virtual/video training options for partners and citizen scientists (UC³ currently assessing operating funds available for video production) The maps in Figures 4 – 6. depict the AIS monitoring efforts statewide in 2021 by FWP crews and partners, which include organizations and citizen scientists. In addition, FWP and partners conducted additional survey and control work in specific areas in the basin where AIS were detected. New detections in 2021 include New Zealand mudsnails in Mitchell Slough (Bitterroot River), Beavertail Pond and Big Sheep Creak; Red-rim melania snails in the Beaverhead and Gardiner rivers; Curlyleaf pondweed in Big Elk Creek, Two Dot, Shields River, and Big Timber; and Southern plains crayfish in Miles City. More information can be found on the FWP AIS Monitoring Dashboard.
2021 UPPER COLUMBIA CONSERVATION COMMISSION (UC 3) ANNUAL REPORT
Flowering Rush Flowering Rush has whitish pink flowers that grow in umbrellashaped clusters and green triangular stems that can reach 1 to 5 feet in height and can Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org survive in water up to 10 feet deep. It invades long shorelines and margins of slow-moving waterways cutting off recreational swimming and boating potential. Flowering rush is present in the Upper Columbia Basin, most notably in Flathead Lake. Eurasian Watermilfoil Eurasian watermilfoil grows in thick mats of feathery leaves and erect stalks with small reddish flowers that emerge above the water. Milfoil can quickly take Alison Fox, University of Florida, Bugwood.org over shallow lakes and rivers, preventing boating, fishing, hunting, and swimming. It spreads by fragmentation, meaning it needs only a small sliver of a leaf to be transported on boats, motors, trailers, fishing nets or other gear to spread. It is present in the Upper Columbia Basin in many lakes and reservoirs, including Cabinet Gorge, Noxon and Thompson Falls reservoirs. Fragrant Water Lily Fragrant water lily is most easily recognized by its eye-catching, open bloom of either white or pink petals and wide heart-shaped leaves. The water lily can achieve Brett Marshall, Sault College, Bugwood.org extraordinary population growth, impair recreation and destabilize underwater ecosystems. It is already present in the Upper Columbia Basin, within Holland Lake, Lake Mary Ronan, Swan Lake, and several other waterways. New Zealand Mudsnails Mudsnails are brown to black in color and range in size from a grain of sand to 1/8 inch long. They can outcompete native snails, impact the food chain of Mike Gangloff, Bugwood.org native trout, and be transported through vegetation and mud on boats and gear. Mudsnails are present in the Upper Columbia Basin, populating sections of the Missouri, Madison and Bitterroot rivers along with several other reservoirs and waterbodies. 15
